Audio passthrough on noise cancelling headphones

[shmokes]

Anybody know if the mic typically used for active noise cancellation in headphones can be used for the opposite? I'm interested in listening to audiobooks while riding my bike, but I'm afraid to limit my hearing too much. I'd like ambient noises to be passed from the microphones directly into my ears (in addition to the audiobooks). I'm also highly curious, if this is a feature, if anyone has tried it and whether it works well.

[Nephasth]

Um... Don't use noise cancelling headphones.

[shmokes]

Um . . . that post isn't at all useful.

[Nephasth]

Yes, common sense is never useful.

[shmokes]

Oh . . . we're on the common sense train. Then this seems applicable: All headphones are noise cancelling. Headphones sit on top of your ear canals and block ambient sound from entering, while also delivering sound from an audio device that drowns out ambient sound.

The point of using active noise cancelling cans is they have a microphone that would be capable of mitigating this effect by picking up ambient sounds and delivering them to your ear canals. In other words, don't be an ---uvula---.

[CCM]

Headphones of any kind are dangerous while biking.  It's an accident waiting to happen.   You're an ambulance chaser, don't you know this already?

[Nephasth]

Oh . . . we're on the common sense train. Then this seems applicable: All headphones are noise cancelling. Headphones sit on top of your ear canals and block ambient sound from entering, while also delivering sound from an audio device that drowns out ambient sound.

The point of using active noise cancelling cans is they have a microphone that would be capable of mitigating this effect by picking up ambient sounds and delivering them to your ear canals. In other words, don't be an ---uvula---.

Turn the volume down, ---uvula---.

Riding a bike while listening to an audio book, sounds like something a yuppie would do... Don't forget your messenger bag.

[shmokes]

Turn the volume down

Noted.

Anybody here actually have experience with active noise-canceling headphones? Do they have this feature?

[ChadTower]

Oh . . . we're on the common sense train. Then this seems applicable: All headphones are noise cancelling. Headphones sit on top of your ear canals and block ambient sound from entering, while also delivering sound from an audio device that drowns out ambient sound.

There are headphones designed to not block most of the ambient sounds.  There always have been.


As someone who has put in thousands of hours on a bike, though, I'd advise against this.  It's not the noises that will be an issue.  It will be your diverted attention as you actively try to ignore things so you can pay attention to the story.  Biking requires enough attention as it is. 

[shmokes]

This may turn out to be the case. I'll be riding on a dedicated bike path, though, so I don't have to worry about getting hit by a car.  I suspect that so long as I can hear decently what's going on around me that riding this path while listening to an audiobook is within my risk tolerance. Can you be more specific about the headphones you're talking about?

[ChadTower]

This may turn out to be the case. I'll be riding on a dedicated bike path, though, so I don't have to worry about getting hit by a car.  I suspect that so long as I can hear decently what's going on around me that riding this path while listening to an audiobook is within my risk tolerance. Can you be more specific about the headphones you're talking about?

Remember the ones that came with Sony cassette walkmen in the 90s?


The headphones that came with those were almost always the type designed so you could still hear what was going on around you.  Look for headphones like these.  They go in your ear but don't actually block off the canal.  They might actually fit under your helmet, too. 


What gets me about headphones now is that you have to pay $30 headphones that are half the quality as the stuff that was included with a walkman in 1990.  Those headphones had bass.

[Nephasth]

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=ambient+noise+headphones

Second link.

 

[drventure]

+1 on those headphones Chadtower mentioned. They're really good if you continue to want to be able to hear what's around you.

[shmokes]

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=ambient+noise+headphones

Second link.

 

Whatever . . . be an ---uvula---.

[Vigo]

It's an audiobook. No acoustic quality needed. Put only one earbud in.

[lilshawn]

okay, okay, being a huge dick aside,

i remember a company at one time made some active earplugs. Once the noise reached a certain DB threshold they activated and blocked the noise (using an inverse soundwave to help) until it subsided to a certain level where the sound was restored. they where basically sound canceling headphones in reverse.

I'm not condoning the use of such an item, but it does exist in one form or another. http://www.earplugstore.com/earmuffs.html

[CCM]

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=ambient+noise+headphones

Second link.

 

Whatever . . . be an ---uvula---.

Have you actually tried google??  Try finding an audiophile or head phone forum.... 

[shmokes]

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=ambient+noise+headphones

Second link.

 

Whatever . . . be an ---uvula---.

Have you actually tried google??  Try finding an audiophile or head phone forum....

Of course. Google, including the specific search terms used in the above link, turns up very little relevant information.

[shmokes]

It's an audiobook. No acoustic quality needed. Put only one earbud in.

That's a pretty good solution. I don't currently have headphones that would work for this (I hate earbuds), but maybe an over-the-ear solution that don't have the two sides hooked together would work well.

[Vigo]

To be honest, I kinda hate earbuds too. I know they make headphones with the kind of ear pieces that clip around your ear like a bluetooth headset. Clip one on your ear, clip the other to your shirt collar. Just throwing that out as an option.

[lilshawn]

so what you do is put the ear bud in and then put the over the ear head phones over those and plug them both into a splitter and turn it up to 11.

[wp34]

It's an audiobook. No acoustic quality needed. Put only one earbud in.

+1

I've been listening to audiobooks and podcasts for years this way.  I'm not a big fan of earbuds but having one in does not seem to bother me as much as having two. 

The dangling of the second bud does get old though.  I've taken cheap earbuds and cut off one bud before to get around this.  The pair I'm using right now are Rocketfish ($10 Best Buy).  They have a sleeve that allows you to shorten the length of wire between the buds so that the second bud does not dangle.  I'm really happy with this pair.

[shmokes]

Earbuds are out of the question. They're not just uncomfortable (though, they are that), they fall out of my ears every five-ten minutes--more if I'm moving around a lot. It's super annoying.

[Turvey]

Just throwing another idea into the equation...

http://www.50cycles.com/product.htm?product=3d-surround-music-box

[Samstag]

Just throwing another idea into the equation...

http://www.50cycles.com/product.htm?product=3d-surround-music-box

...but wearing headphones is a crazy idea in busy, noisy, urban environments.

Problem:  Cities are noisy.
Solution:  Add to the noise.

[ChadTower]

This is way, way overthinking "how do I listen to a book".

[Vigo]

Just throwing another idea into the equation...

http://www.50cycles.com/product.htm?product=3d-surround-music-box

...but wearing headphones is a crazy idea in busy, noisy, urban environments.

Problem:  Cities are noisy.
Solution:  Add to the noise.

Except I am pretty sure biking around the city blasting an audiobook of Harry Potter is an open invitation to be beaten up mercilessly.

[Samstag]

Except I am pretty sure biking around the city blasting an audiobook of Harry Potter is an open invitation to be beaten up mercilessly.

I'll wait to see if shmokes gets his butt kicked before I place an order.

[shmokes]

LMAO . . . you won't get the chance. I would never use that thing.

[HaRuMaN]

http://www.amazon.com/AirDrives-INA990010004-04-Headphones-Blue/dp/B002NU4ZME/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1345584770&sr=8-2&keywords=airdrive

[ChadTower]

The obvious answer is to have someone sit on the handlebars and read you the book.

[shmokes]

For what it's worth, I would never listen to Harry Potter. I've already read all of them.

[lilshawn]

I have the solution...nobody want's to hear it...but i have it.

buy this:



turn this up:



roll these up:



turn this on:



problems all solved. you needn't leave your house if you don't want to.

[wp34]

For what it's worth, I would never listen to Harry Potter. I've already read all of them.

You are missing out--unless you didn't like the books.  The guy that reads them is brilliant.  One of the best out there.

[shmokes]

Yeah, it's not that I wouldn't like them. It's just what I said--I already read them. And it's not like there's any shortage of other audiobooks out there. Also, Harry Potter is fine, but it isn't like jaw droppingly amazing. Having read it once I have no interest in going through it again.

[lilshawn]

I think i would listen to "50 shades of gray" if Morgan Freeman was reading it. 

[CCM]

This is way, way overthinking "how do I listen to a book".

No kidding.... it's almost as bad as a thread on "how do I haul wood in a pickup truck".

[Hoopz]

This is way, way overthinking "how do I listen to a book".

No kidding.... it's almost as bad as a thread on "how do I haul wood in a pickup truck".

Never gets old.

[CCM]

Earbuds are out of the question. They're not just uncomfortable (though, they are that), they fall out of my ears every five-ten minutes--more if I'm moving around a lot. It's super annoying.

I always had the same issue with earbuds constantly falling out, then I picked up a set of Sennheiser MX75's they work great at the gym and never fall out.   It looks like the MX75's have been discontinued and replaced with the CX680's.

[ChadTower]

No kidding.... it's almost as bad as a thread on "how do I haul wood in a pickup truck".

That one was a load of crap.  What a tool.